For example, inspection of electrical characteristics of electronic circuits such as an integration circuit (IC), a large scale integration (LSI) circuit or the like formed on a semiconductor wafer has been conventionally carried out by using a probe device having a probe card. The probe card typically includes a contactor sustaining thereon a number of probes; and a circuit board electrically connected to the contactor. The contactor is disposed in a manner that its lower surface, on which the probes are supported, faces the wafer, and the circuit board is superposed on a top surface of the contactor so that an electrical contact between the circuit board and the contactor may be maintained. The inspection of the electrical characteristics of the wafer is carried out by bringing the probes into contact with individual electrodes of the electronic circuits on the wafer and then transmitting electric signals for inspection to the electrodes on the wafer from the probes through the circuit board and the contactor.
To inspect the electrical characteristics of the wafer properly, the probes and the electrodes need to be brought into contact with each other so that a contact resistance therebetween may be reduced sufficiently. That is, the probes and the electrodes need to be brought into contact with each other at a sufficient contact pressure. Conventionally, a contact between the probes and the wafer is made by moving up the wafer toward the probe card by a specific distance, and a contact pressure between the probes and the wafer is set by the preset movement distance of the wafer (see, for example, Patent Reference 1).
[Patent Reference 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2004-265895